Hot and Sour Soup
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Hot and sour soup is a flavorful Chinese soup known for its perfect balance of heat and tang. Made with a savory broth, it’s filled with mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoots, and egg ribbons. The vinegar brings the tang while pepper or chili oil bring the heat.
We love eating Chinese food. The problem is, when we go to a Chinese buffet we end up eating way too much.
The good thing is that I’ve learned how to make some amazing Asian cuisine at home. Most of the dishes are stir fries or meat and vegetable dishes.
One of my favorite easy to make dishes is the classic Beef and Broccoli. Another Chinese favorite is Easy Bourbon Chicken with vegetables. The best General Tso’s I’ve made is General Tso’s Cauliflower and Tofu which have a delightful tempura batter.
The one thing I have trouble making are Asian soup. However, I was looking through my Cooking Light magazine and found a recipe for Hot and Sour Soup. We are avid tofu lovers so I decided to give it a try.
Why is it called Hot and Sour Soup?
The name hot and sour soup comes from the two main flavors of this soup. The “hot” comes from the white pepper or chili oil that is added to the broth. The “sour” comes from the vinegar.
The base of the soup is super easy to make. There isn’t much to it and it comes together quickly. If you want a little more flavor to the soup just add some seasoning whenever you are sauteing the mushrooms.
What should I serve with hot and sour soup?
You can serve this soup as an appetizer with any type of stir fry dishes or fried rice. You can also use it as a light entree and serve it along with egg rolls, crab rangoons, steamed dumplings, or Asian Cucumber Carrot Salad.
The one part that is a bit tricky is the egg. It’s hard to get nice ribbons of egg into the soup. I’ve found slowly pouring the egg off the back of a spoon to be the best method.
This soup is absolutely delicious! I think this recipe may be even better then the hot and sour soup we get in the restaurant.
It has a sourness to it that we love but the amount of mushrooms and tofu that go into the soup balance it nicely. We topped it with some crunchy Chinese noodles and had pork egg rolls on the side to make a complete meal.
Hot and Sour Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz package of extra firm water-packed tofu
- 6 cups vegetable or mushroom broth
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 8 oz. mushrooms chopped
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ cup canned sliced bamboo shoots
- 1 egg
- ½ cup sliced green onions
- 1-2 teaspoons chili oil
- 1 cup crunchy Chinese noodles if desired
Instructions
- Place tofu on several paper towels. Cover with several more paper towels; top with a heavy skillet for 10 minutes to drain tofu. Throw paper towels away and cut tofu into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium high heat. Add in the mushrooms and saute for five minutes. Add in the ginger, sugar, pepper, and garlic and saute for one minute.
- Add in the chicken broth and 1 ½ cups of the water to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a small bowl combine cornstarch and remaining ½ c. water. Whisk until smooth. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the soup. Add tofu and bamboo shoots and bring to a boil.
- Cook for 5 minutes then remove from heat.
- In a small bowl beat the egg. Slowly drizzle the egg into the soup (it will form ribbons of egg). Do not stir!
- Return soup to low heat and cook 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and drizzle with chili oil. Serve with crunchy noodles on top.
Notes
I love hot and sour soup, but never thought of trying to make it myself. Thanks for what looks like a great recipe.